On Friday (10th May), the Election Commission of India gave a detailed 21-page rebuttal to dismiss the allegations leveled by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge over the electoral process. The poll body termed his allegations around voter turnout data as “baseless” and stressed that such attempts could create an “anarchic situation, besides doubts and disharmony” among the voters and common Indians. Notably, on 7th May, Kharge wrote a post on X, addressing the leaders of the I.N.D.I. alliance regarding the alleged discrepancies in the voting data released by the ECI.
Regarding Kharge’s post, ECI said, “Through innuendos and insinuations, the contents of the post tend to create disharmony in respect of the delicate space of election management, can plant doubts in the mind of voters and political parties.” It added that the charges were meant to “create confusion, misdirection, and impediments in the conduct of free and fair polls”.
Additionally, the ECI assured that there has been no lapse or deviation in the collection and dissemination of voter turnout data and gave detailed point-by-point counters to reject his contentions.
However, it is pertinent to note that over the past several years, the grand old party and its I.N.D.I. Alliance partners have escalated their attempts to undermine the authority of the polling body. They have raised questions about every step, person, and instrument involved in the electoral process, virtually making a case for an overhaul of the Constitutional body and everything within the electoral process according to their whims and electoral outcomes of the Congress and their I.N.D.I. Alliance partners.
Incidentally, in his post, Kharge alleged a “high increment” and “inordinate delay” in the final voter turnout, that is, he raised questions and doubts about one part of the electoral process. However, he went further to allege that the final results could be farce stating, “Could this be an attempt to doctor the final results”. He further alleged that the credibility of the ECI is at an “all-time low”. He brazened it out alleging that could the ‘bump in voting in final turn out’ be in areas where the government is weak, alluding that the ECI is compromised to fracture a win for the NDA government.
Strikingly, from raising unfound allegations against EVMs, and the sanctity of electoral rolls – the key instrument in the electoral process, the I.N.D.I. alliance leaders have ramped up their efforts and effectively launched a smear campaign against the ECI and the integrity of the Election Commissioners.
Allegations on EVMs, questioning the integrity of the Election Commissioner, and assault on ECI
Allegations of “faults” within the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have been at the forefront of the opposition’s political strategy including to criticise the Modi government or to explain its recurrent electoral defeats. For nearly a decade, the I.N.D.I. alliance leaders have run pillar to post, from courts in India to people’s court – Election rallies, poll campaigns to foreign soil – Kapil Sibal joining Press conference on “EVM hacking claims” in London. However, there has been no shred of evidence presented before the courts, and no attempts were made to join ECI’s hackathon over EVMs.
Incidentally, the grand old party and its allies dominated the electoral landscape, appointing persons of questionable integrity and those who later swore allegiances to Congress, the benefactor political party from those elections, as Chief Election Commissioners without qualms, thus controlling the one-member body.
For those unaware, Former Chief Election Commissioner Manohar Singh Gill joined the Indian National Congress after his retirement. He held the post of CEC from 1996 to 2001 and served as a Congress Rajya Sabha MP from 2004 to 2016. Interestingly, it was M.S. Gill, the Former CEC turned Congress leader, who introduced EVMs in the Indian electoral system. According to opposition allegations, if the EVMs, despite numerous checks added later on, can produce entirely different electoral outcomes, was their introduction by the former CEC turned Congress leader an attempt to manipulate final results in favour of the party he later joined?
However, after being ousted from power, Congress and I.N.D.I. alliance leaders have been hell-bent on blasting the ECI as a ‘compromised body’ and ‘political arm’ of the ruling political party. This criticism is based solely on allegations that the Election Commissioner, first appointed by a system that existed for decades and later through a reformed system of a three-member panel comprising the Leader of the Opposition, may not have a spine.
It is pertinent to note that with the advancement of technology and judicial interventions, the electoral process has only been enriched over time. The latest system of appointment of Election Commissioners is also in line with the Supreme Court’s recent directions and has been upheld in the top court. Evidently, in March 2024, SC refused to stay the appointment of Election Commissioners, junking all the baseless allegations of the opposition and its ecosystem.
The political propaganda is driven by narrow self-interest of hiding their own flaws, to keep the political parties, their leadership, and organisational structure intact despite the electoral route. It has started to brainwash not only the less informed voters but also the educated students in esteemed colleges. For example – recently, students of National Law University (NLU) Delhi conducted “mourning prayers” for the ECI and wrote an obituary of the ECI.
The expanding allegations against every step of the electoral process, based on hearsay, unfounded claims, falsehoods, and political propaganda, may very well lay the groundwork for an Indian redux of the January 6th riots witnessed in the United States over the issue of ‘Electoral fraud’ in the Presidential election.
Incidentally, several Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, have already threatened violence linked with the electoral outcomes of the Congress party. Such threats are an assault on the greatest positive Indian democracy has experienced over the past seven-and-a-half decades: a smooth transition of power. The threat of violence, should an undesirable outcome emerge on June 4th, is nothing but blackmail. It’s akin to demanding a blank cheque for the opposition parties to form a government at the center, in order to quell violence and silence the hoarse cries of ‘death of democracy.’
